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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

P. A. J. MONIER. CONSTRUCTION OF TANKS, RESERVOIRS, SILOS, &c.

No. 486,535. Patented N0v..22, 1892.

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(No Model.) I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. P. A. J. MONIER. CONSTRUCTION OF TANKS,RESERVOIRS, SILOS, 6w.

Patented Nov. 22, 1892..

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PIERRE ANTOINE JOSEPH MONIER, OF PLAINE ST. DENIS, FRANCE.

CONSTRUCTION OF TANKS, RESERVOIRS, SILOS, 84.0.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 486,535, dated November22, 1892. Application filed October 31, 1891. Serial No. 410.518- (Nomodel.) Patented in France September 15,1890, N 20 .2

.To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PIERRE ANTOINE Jo- SEPH MONIER, of the city ofPlaine St. Denis, near Paris, France, have invented Improvements in theConstruction of Reservoirs, Tanks, Silos, Vats, Oisterns, and otherGontainers, Pipes, and Conduits, (for which I have obtained LettersPatent in France for fifteen years, dated September 15, 1890, No.208,250,) of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

This invention relates to improvements in the construction ofreservoirs, tanks, silos, vats, cisterns, pits, accumulators,generators, receivers, pipes, and conduits of all kinds.

I first commence by preparing a bed or foundation upon which to buildthe reservoir or other structure and upon it arrange the main ironframing of the desired form and dimensions, by means of which therequisite strength is imparted.

- In Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings I have shown two forms of arrangingthe iron; but these can be varied as desired. For example, in order toconstruct a large reservoir or basin entirely above ground upon aloosesoil, having an internal diameter of from ten to twenty meters or upwardand of a proportional height, I proceed as follows: I commence byestablishing the bed upon which to support the reservoir, which bed Iform of a frame composed of iron beams of I, l, I, J, Z, J'\ H, or otherpreferred shaped iron and of the desired strength, which maybe eithersimply laid at a distance apart or connected by bolts or rivets orfitted together in any form desired, one or other of the ways indicatedin Figs. 1, 2, 4, and 6, the form, dimensions, mode of construction, andassemblage being varied to suit the size, form, and dimensions of thereservoir, &c., for which they form the support. The bed-frame havingbeen thus arranged in position, I make a concrete with lime or cement,sand, and pebbles, or, failing these, of clinkers, slag, or othersufficiently-solid material, the proportions of the lime or cementcontained in the composition Varying with the degree of resistancerequired. I then, after the soil upon which the reservoir, 850., is tobe erected has been leveled and rammed, spread thereon a first layer ofconcrete of the necessary thickness and Well ram it, after which I layupon this concrete bed the iron bed-frame above indicated and completelyfill it in with concrete over its entire surface, in which concrete areembedded angle-irons, such as represented at A in Fig. 7, to serve as aprimary means of securing in place the structure to be erected. Theseangle-irons are formed by bending the lower portion at right angles tothe vertical portion and then turning the end down at right angles tothe bent or horizontal portion, as shown in Figs. 7, S, and 9. Theseembedded iron fixings may be of various forms and dimensions, accordingto the purpose for which they are intended,and would be placed at fromone meter to one and a half meters (or more) apart. Two or three daysafter having laid the iron frame in position and when the concrete issufliciently set to permitof working on it without injuryI proceed tofix the main vertical iron frames, which are all cut to exactly the samelength-say three, four, or five meters, according to require, mentsandeach having one end cut square and the other flattened, care being takento place the square end at bottom against the angle-iron embedded in theconcrete and secure it thereto by means of rings or clamps placed uponsaid angle-iron, as shown in Figs. 3 and 8, and held in place by meansof ties, ligatures, or iron wires and a perforated key through which thewire is passed to prevent it slipping in the space separating the twoparts to be assembled. To the top of this iron upright is then fixedaTor other shaped iron girder, as shown in Figs. 5, 9, and 10, when thestructure is not to exceed three, four, or five meters in height; butwhere the height is to exceed ten meters I employ T- iron of the sameform for the top, and for the bottom I employiron of U, H, H-l, H-H, orother section. In this case the uprights would be connected in themanner shown in Figs. 9, 10, and 11, according to the form of T-ironused. For uprights of less height the T-iron, disposed as represented inFig. 10, serves to form a top flange and at same time a guide forplacing and giving the necessary thickness to the cement. For uprightsof greater height the upper ends may terminate in the same manner andthe lower ends be arranged as in Figs. 9, 10, and 11,

the interior ribs of the -I- or r-H- irons serving to support the endsof the uprights and the exterior ribs like those of the top to form aguide for placing and giving the necessary thickness of cement. They mayeither remain exposed or be entirely or one-half covered with cement.

In the case of -1- iron the web is pierced with holes at intervals wherethe uprights are to be fixed bydouble ties of twisted wire. In the caseof i-H- iron, Fig. 12, it is not indispensable to provide holes, as thisform of the iron will hold the uprights without ties, although their useis preferable.

IVhen employing l----l iron, as in Fig. 14, it is not necessary toperforate it; but it is preferable to provide it with both large andsmall holes. The large holes should be slightly larger than the diameterof the uprights in order to permit of theirbeing readily inserted. Thesmall holes serve for the insertion of the wires by which the uprightsare secured, as shown in Fig. 13.

After all the main uprights have been fixed in any of the ways beforeindicated the main horizontal iron bars are then attached thereto ateach point of intersection by means of double ligatures of wire twistedtight, as shown in Fig. 15, to prevent slipping. These horizontal barsform circles or hoops arranged in spirals extending from the bottom to aheight of three, four, or five meters, with or without break. They aremade of the longest length possible (from one hundred to two hundred orthree hundred meters) in a single length, wound at the rolling-mill onspecial drums of two, three, or four meters in diameter, and in thismanner I save the bending of the iron and obtain much greater strengththan if employing bars of fouror five meters in length, as commonlyproduced, a large number of which would require to be joined end to endto obtain the length required. Should, however, one of these drums notcontain a sufficient length, I join the part already laid to that whichhas to be laid in the following manner: Each end of the iron rod or baris first bent, as shown in Fig. 16, and upon the two ends to be joinedare placed two flat rings similar to those employed for connecting theuprights to the embedded angle-irons, and a key or wedge pierced withsmall holes is then introduced, through which is passed a wireintroduced between the key and the bent ends of the iron rods or bars tobe united, as shown in Fig. 17. In this manner a joint of equal if notgreater strength than that of the bar itself is obtained. I may alsoweld the end of a bar to that coiled on the drum, and thus obtain ironof great length in a single piece.

After all the main horizontal and vertical bars of the lower tier, forexample, have been placed in position I then fix all the smallintermediate uprights, which are made of the form indicated in Fig. 18and are all joined at different points of the bottom, where they areconnected together by wire ties, the ends of said bars to be joined,whether to thebottom or otherwise, being simply flattened when cold bymeans of a hammer and then strongly bound with wire, as shown in Fig.19. Similarly all the small intermediate bars, whether horizontal orvertical, as in Fig. 20, are flattened at each end and united togetherby means of wire at all the intersections of the vertical and horizontalbars, both main and intermediate. This completes the first part of theworkviz., the construction of the skeleton framework, and I then proceedto construct a second and a third part, and so on, until the whole ofthe metallic portion of the structure is completed. This metallicstructure is then to be covered on the outside or inside, and eitherentirely or partly, when of extremely-large dimensions, with paneling ofwood, zinc, sheet metal, or other material of sufficient strength andcapable of forming a moldforthecement. Ithenapplyafirstrough coat ofcement mixed with sand, and after this is sufiiciently set I apply asecond coat of cement, containing a less quantity of sand, so as to formthe structure shown in Fig. 21. The mold-panels are then removed and alayer of a similar kind is applied on this side, care being taken tomake the surface on the interior as smooth as possible, while theexterior after being well dressed and smoothed is then slightlyroughened, so as to render it less liable to contract and crack underthe heat of the sun.

The above-described method of forming a round structure isapplicable,also,for silos for containing grain, seeds, or liquidsgenerally. In this case the silo instead of resting on a solidhorizontal platform, as in the case of reservoirs, basins, vats, andother fiat-bottomed containers, would rest upon a special foundationsuited to the form of their conical bottoms, and similarly in the caseof vats and other containers having spherical ends or of other form.

The skeleton iron uprights of the reservoir, whether of round or squareform, are united at the top to a ring of special form, for which purposethe ends of the uprights are flattened and bent, as shown in Figs. 22and 23, so as to facilitate the tying of the parts together by means ofdouble or treble twisted wire. By bending the ends of the uprights inthe manner shown in Fig. 23 their position in the cement filling can bemore easily determined and the thickness of the latter be accordinglyreduced.

What I claim as my invention is- 1. In metallic skeleton frames forreservoirs, tanks, and analogous containing-vessels, the combination,with a metallic skeleton base embedded in cement or similar material, ofmetallic supporting-rods having their lower ends bent at right angles tothe vertical por tion and secured in said cement, metallic uprightssecured to said supporting-rods, and metallic caps secured to saiduprights, all said tions of the parts of saidframe together, consistingof clamping-plates, rings or hands securing said plates together, andwires adapted to hold said parts in position, substantially asdescribed, and for the purposes set forth.

The foregoing specification of my improvements in the construction ofreservoirs, tanks, silos, vats,cisterns,and other containers,pipes, andconduits signed by me this 17th day of October, 1891.

PIERRE ANTOINE JOSEPH MONIER.

WVitnesses:

R0131. M. HOOPER, PIERRE ERNEST TISSIER.

